


The Mad Titans and the World of Tomorrow

by Rizzlemonster



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Rock Band, Alternate Universe - Shingeki no Kyojin Fusion, M/M, Yaoi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-09
Updated: 2014-06-10
Packaged: 2018-02-03 23:09:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1759269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rizzlemonster/pseuds/Rizzlemonster
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Levi's got it all. He's the lead singer of a famous rock band. The world lies at his feet. And he has an apartment with world's best view. Oh, and one minor issue. He has this thing for his dirt-poor neighbour. Rated; M for language and later smut ;) LeviXEren/Riren</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey hey, I also post this story in Fanfiction.net! Same username; Rizzlemonster. I'll keep uploading there too =)
> 
> I have a Beta reader from ch 20-something on (Numa10 o fanfic), so there are still a few mistakes in the first few. Trying to filter them out myself though, so eventhough I'm at CH 26 on fanfic, it might take a littl longer here to update in the beginning because I'm updating the old chapters first.
> 
> This is a Riren fic in a modern AU setting; Bands universe
> 
> Enjoy~ hope you guys like it!!!

**The Mad Titans and the World of Tomorrow**

**Chapter One**

* * *

 

 _ **H**_ e hated to pack everything at the last possible moment. The clock struck four in the morning, he should be in bed, not running around like a mad man. He raced across his bedroom to fling some of his clothes in his black leather bag. After he seemed to have everything from his room he continued to the bathroom. “Damned that woman for calling me so late!” he growled under a heavy breath. “I’m gonna strangle her!”

Then when things couldn’t get any worse in his perfect world the doorbell rang. He cursed.

“Oh honey!” a high pinched voice sang followed by loud banging on his front door. He cursed louder.

“Wait a bit longer you… urgg. Done in a sec!” He couldn’t care less about waking everyone in the damned building.

“Hurry up! You’re too slow!” yelled the woman.

That did it. He ran towards the door and nearly kicked it open. The woman barely managed to jump out of the way before the door smacked her in the face.

“Shit Levi you nearly broke my glasses! Be more careful okay.” She said while grabbing his arm. She dragged him out of his apartment and slammed the door shut. “Hurry, we don’t want to be late for our own gig!”

“Yeah and who’s fault is that Hanji!” Levi sneered at his friend. “This is fucking ridiculous.” He swatted her hand away, freeing his arm and swung his bag over his shoulder. They made their way to Erwin’s car, which was parked not too far away from his apartment building.

“I think Erwin parked somewhere over here.” Hanji said as she waved her hand at Levi. She got a moody shrug as reply. Hanji walked over to a dark blue car, which seemed almost black in the light of the lanterns. “Erwin’s driving.” She simply said as she opened the front door and shortly after added “Shotgun.”

“I hate you so much right now.”

“Love you too.” She winked before she got in the front seat.

Levi heard something that sounded like suppressed laughter of Hanji and Erwin. “I hate both of you.” He said before he got in the back seat. “And your damned winks.”

“Morning.” A cheerful Erwin said. Levi just shrugged as he put down his bag beside him.

“So…” he started. “The fuck happened to our flight.”

“Yeah about that.” Hanji turned to face him. She slightly hesitated when she saw infuriating grey eyes practically glaring daggers at her. His normally styled black hair was a mess, save for his undercut.

“Well, I’m waiting. And you better have a good explanation.”

“Of course. Of course.” She heaved her shoulders as if it was no big deal. “Our flight kinda got overbooked.”His brows twitched in annoyance. “And well. By the time Pixies wanted to check us in… well. He couldn’t. You know. All the seats where taken. And the next possible flight was tomorrow! Our show is tonight! So now we’re going by car.” She ended her story with a smile and a thumbs up.

He let that sink in. He though of multiple ways to mutilate their manager and after what seemed like forever he finally said under a heavy breath.“You do realize it’s a nine hour drive from Trost to Shiganshina?”

She slowly nodded her head. Her hair was undone and her glasses were dirty. Hanji had hurried just as much as he had. He sighed. He gave up. This was going to be a long drive. “Each of us drives for about three hours. We can have two short breaks and we’ll be in Shiganshina at about… let’s say four in case we get lost or something else happens. We’ll have enough time for the sound check and we can freshen up a bit. Maybe even sleep a couple of hours.” She drabbled on. Even in the middle of the night it seemed as though Hanji had a severe case of ADHD.

And so the three-member popular rock band, the Mad Titans and the World of Tomorrow, began their journey to Trost. It was an absolute shit name, but then again, when they started the band, they were absolute shit drunk.

* * *

 

Levi can’t remember ever falling asleep but he awoke with a start when Erwin gently shook his shoulder. “Hey we’re taking a break now. Afterwards it’s your turn to take the wheel.” He slumped back into the front seat next to Hanji.

Levi moaned in frustration. “Isn’t it Hanji’s up next?” he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

“Look who’s finally up!” Hanji bellowed from behind the drivers seat. “And nope it’s your turn twinkle toes. I already did my share. Now it’s my turn to hit the deck. I’m bummed!” She let out a load yawn while stretching her arms.

“Get your hands back on the wheel you freak!” Levi nearly screamed. “Are you trying to kill us!”

Hanji answered by turning to face him and did not return her hands on the wheel. “No.” she simply stated, then winked at him. “See, were on a parking lot. Standing perfectly still. Not dying. Stop freaking out.”

Erwin laughed at the commotion the two were making. “Come on.” Erwin said butting in between the two. “Let’s eat. I’m starving.” He opened the door and got out of the car. He walked over to what seemed to be a café. He wore grey jeans that clung neatly around his figure, matched with a black shirt. A leather motor jacket finished his look. Just like Levi he to had an undercut. His blond hair was styled with perfection and his undercut was a couple of shades darker.

Hanji got out of the car mumbling strings of words about food and loads of coffee even though just now she wanted to sleep. She cleaned her glasses and pulled a ribbon from her wrist. She always wore a couple of them just in case and tied her hair in a bun. She wore a pair of black skinny jeans, a white blouse and burgundy cardigan. Her black All Stars were close to breaking down, as there were multiple holes visible – the ones on her heels revealed her love for crazy socks.

Levi shook his head. He himself was wearing a ripped grey skinny jeans and a simple black long sleeve. He didn’t have time to actually care what to wear. He wore black military boots.

When he got out of the car a chill ran down his spine. “Fucking freezing.” He bluntly stated. “Great.” And bit back a groan.

“Ah, you forgot your jacket.” Hanji yelled from near the café when she saw her friend walk in an awfully fast pace towards the warmth. “Shut up. I’ll buy a new one.”

“Nice, were going shopping!” she clapped her hands in excitement.

“Alone!”

“Yeah, alone with me.” There was just no talking with her. Why were they friends again?

After a short stop at the café the long drive continued. This time Levi took place behind the wheel. After what seemed forever the team of three finally made it to the concert hall in the centre of Shiganshina which in Levi’s word was like an ass amongst mazes.

The concert hall was known as the Wall. It was the biggest and most popular music hall any musician could only wish to perform in, let alone have it completely sold out. Of course this was the case for the Mad Titans and to World of Tomorrow. With the Wall completely sold out within mere seconds and a fan base that seemed to have slept in front of the building since one or two days before the gig. The front of the building was filled with trash of snacks and drinks, and there were some sleeping bags and other camping gear. Levi hated all the attention. He hated the fans, the screams, the stalking and their obsessive behaviour. He shrugged. Alas it was collateral damage and so he had to deal with it. Being in the band was one of the best things that had ever happened to him.

“Look at them!” Hanji squeaked when their car passed the Wall. “So many are here already!” it was true. It seemed there were more and more people with each and every concert they gave. It looked like a miniature army clad in black. Most of them wore band shirts, while others wore clothes mainly in the style of their favourite band member. Chants and laughter erupted from the herd of fans as smiles shone on their faces. Lyrics Levi knew all to well made their way into the sky.

“Good thing they have no idea I have this shit wreck of a car.” Erwin joked. Now Erwin was modest. His car wasn’t a total shit wreck. His navy blue Audi V8 was considered to be a classic, an old model from the early 90’. There were scratches on the left side of the car, remnants for when he got his drivers licence, or better yet, how he almost got it. It wasn’t a car any celebrity wanted to posses, let alone drive in. Hanji and Levi didn’t care, as long as it could drive from A to B, things were just dandy. They drove to the back of the building. Showing their security passes at the necessary security checks and proceeded to their destination.

“Fucking finally.” Levi uttered as he parked Erwin’s car in an empty parking space.

“I can’t wait for tonight’s show!” Hanji threw her hands up like a cheer and shot out of the car as fast as she possibly could. Erwin followed suit. While they made their way to the Wall Levi returned Erwin’s car keys. Once they got inside their manager Pixies rushed forward.

“Where have you been? We have been worried sick. Now get your asses to the stylists you all look like shit! Shit I say!”

“Good day to you too, sir.” Hanji made a pathetic bow, pretending to be a ballerina. Erwin chuckled at the stupid motion of his band member. Levi remained indifferent about the whole situation.

“Good day, tsssk!” the old man barked causing Levi to cock a brow.

“If you hadn’t booked us such a shitty ass flight we would have been here earlier.” Levi said in a monotone voice. “Overbooked. We drove for nine stinking hours and all you do is whine. Pathetic.”

“Nine hours!” Hanji repeated after her friend for the effect, and held up nine fingers to the obvious. “Nine!” she mouthed with wide eyes.

“We’ll be on our way.” Erwin said when Pixies expression twisted into something nearly inhuman and dragged both, Levi and Hanji by their arms into the labyrinth that was the Wall. Sometimes Erwin felt like he was the only adult in the group. He shrugged. Babysitting was not one of his hobbies.

When Levi slammed open the door to their dressing rooms, about four stylists ran towards them, swarming around them like bees drawn to honey.

“Late, late, late.” Uttered a young woman with hazel coloured hair, which was tucked back into a tiny ponytail. Her bangs were kept under control by several hairpins. Her name was Petra and she was head stylist of their band. Judging their grim faces and Erwin who was shaking his head with a “don’t even ask” look plastered on his face, Petra decided to just get them ready. She smiled and clapped her hands.“Eld, Gunther, Oluo you know what to do.” The tree men dragged their personal project into separate dressing rooms. “Hurry will you, the sound check starts in 50 minutes and I’m pretty sure most of them prefer a shower. So buzz of and collect their outfits first!” she yelled after her co-workers.

The thought of a nice warm shower sounded godlike in Levi’s ears. He had been in a car all day and he felt down right disgusting.

“Oluo, on your way back can you grab me a drink.” He asked his stylist, the man spun around in the doorstep.

“Sure.” He left with a nod to grab Levi’s stage outfit and his much needed drink.

With Oluo gone, Levi made his way to the bathroom. He closed the door behind him and rid himself of his travel clothes. He didn’t dare smell them. His nose wrinkled at the mere thought. “Fucking disgusting.” He flung them aside. The water was cool and pleasant on his skin and he let out a load sigh he didn’t know he was holding. He relaxed his muscled and heaved his head so his face was caught in the falling rain.

About fifty minutes later the band was ready for the sound check. Hanji wore large black Ray ban glasses. Her hair in a messy ponytail erupted in the crook of her neck, several strands falling on her shoulders. She wore a simple white tank top, and a black tattered short shirt over it with the word; ‘Titan’ encrypted on it in sloppy writing. Burgundy skinny jeans finished her outfit - she just loved that colour - and yet again her All Stars. They were inseparable.

Erwin’s outfit was simple yet classy, as drummer he was aiming for a comfortable fit. He wore a simple dark grey shirt, which would probably be on of, say what, two songs, before he decided to loose them. A black pair of jeans clung to his features and was tucked into a pair of black army boots.

Levi hated his black leather jeans; it was too tight and way too hot for on stage. Yet Petra insisted, with ulterior motives of course, but would never admit that. She just loved staring at his ass. She had no shame there. Furthermore he wore a grey v-neck shirt and a pair of black Vans. Their power of fashion lies in its simplicity. Everything had to be perfect. Each member was picky in his or her own peculiar way.

Levi was the lead singer and bass player. Hanji did backing vocals and mastered the guitar like no other. Erwin preferred not to sing too much and rocked the drums every single time. When put together they were a force so fierce no one could deny their existence. They were the talk of the music world, and were the rock band of the age. They needed to maintain that title. When their equipment sounded just like they should, Levi started ranting about the stage lights. They were too bright and too colourful. “Fuck off with those rainbow unicorn shit you dimwits! And where’s the fireworks?”

“I’ll take it from here.” Erwin proposed. “You two get something to eat. I’ll make sure the lights won’t make us look like-“

“Magical prancing ponies.” Hanji finished and flashed the technicians a peace sign. “No hard feelings.” She added as she walked of the stage. “Come on Levi, let’s feast! Heard we got some awesome food. Walked past the kitchen on my way here. My mouth watered to an extend it made the Niagara Falls look like a joke.” She winked at him.

“Disgusting.” He mumbled, but the thought of food was rather pleasant, the food at the café wasn’t really pleasing - at least not as much as he had hoped.

* * *

 

The concert started with eruptions of firework on the sides of the stage, loud cheering from the crowd and a screaming welcome by Hanji. “We are the Mad Titans and the World of Tomorrow! Welcome to our Freedom tour! Are you guys ready to celebrate our 5th anniversary? Let’s rock this joint!” the cheering was so loud Levi was sure that several eardrums shattered that night. Hanji shushed the audience and did something not many bands did. “Now what song would you like us to open with?” hundreds of people screamed and yelled at the same time. Hanji moved forward, swatting her guitar on her back and held the microphone to a small blond girl on the front row who blurted “I, I’d like t-to hear Th uhhh,… Through glass. Please.” She stumbled on her words, to nervous to actually care. Hanji flashed her a smile, turned on her heal and winked at Levi. She knew it was his favourite song. A song about a certain someone, a someone he adored through glass.He nodded shooting Hanji a glare; he hated it when she teased him even if she was right, and not long after music blasted into the night.

* * *

 

“Good news.” Pixies rubbed his hands together. “You’re all flying home, we booked you a new flight. My apologies for my behaviour earlier.”

“You only say that because you are lost without us.” Hanji teased as she rolled her eyes at the old geezer and danced her little victory dance.

“Don’t push your luck, I can always cancel it.”

“Well shit.” She stopped teasing him. “Can’t take a joke?”

“Your jokes suck.” Levi said in a monotone voice and thanked their manager for the flight.

“Appreciate it.” Hanji said dryly.

“One more thing, Erwin.” Pixies directed his attention to said man and told him that he would see to it that Erwin’s car made it back to him so all of them could fly back to their hometown.

Levi was back home in record time. The way back was flawless. The plane departed on time and Pixies had ordered three cabs that would pick each of them up and bring them home. “Home.” Levi let out a yawn. It was four in the morning. How ironic. He got out the cab, thanked the cabby and walked up to his apartment on the 5th floor. He slammed the door shut not caring about his neighbours - they were shit anyway - and then he turned on the lights. He walked around in his small apartment, finally deciding he yearned for some coffee.

His decoration was modest. His living room had a couch that was shoved in a corner and was paired with a pouf, creating a sitting corner. He owned a flat screen TV, which stood on a wooden cabinet. The room contained two plants, a calendar and a clock. There was one picture frame, which stood directly next to his TV, it showed the start of the band. Three drunkards with crappy smiles on their faces, Hanji even had her eyes closed on accident.

His apartment wasn’t anything special. Nobody knew where he lived, safe for his friends. This was his secret get-away place. Levi could buy every house he wanted, everything he wished was possible, from a house at the beach, to a mansion on the other side of the globe. But he loved his old little apartment in the most run down part of Trost. It was a place where it wasn’t very safe to venture of into the night, a place where fights and theft was no stranger to anyone, and most of all, it was a dirty neighbourhood with fitly streets and trash-filled rivers. Yet he loved this place for the clean freak he was. He loved his living room view, world’s best view according to him. And he wouldn’t leave it for the world. Every time he looked outside his window he could get a glimpse of that one person that made him feel complete.

Across the street stood another apartment complex with large windows that were almost from floor to ceiling. He didn’t mind. It only worked out for him. He leaned against the window frame, and brought hot coffee to his lips. He first blew of some of the steam before taking a sip. His eyes focused on an apartment across the street. _The lights were off. Sleeping are you? Too bad, logic but shit, I would have loved to see your stupid smile._ He thought to himself. Just as he wanted to turn to leave, the light of the other apartment flung on. His head snapped back by the sudden change. He could see the outlining of a nearly empty living room and part of a messy hallway, which was stuffed by god knows what. And there between all that junk was the one person he was hoping to lay his eyes upon all day; the person from his songs.

A young man hurried his way into his apartment, kicking of his shoes, tripping half way down the hall over his own mess and rushing towards the living room. He threw of his coat and scarf in an abandoned corner and fell on his green couch. He ran his hands through his untidy brown hair and settled in for watching whatever was on TV. He tried to tug himself under a blanket and failed, he seemed too tired. Levi knew the little shit was going to fall asleep not being able to switch of his lights or TV or to even properly tug himself in. A smile found Levi’s lips. Then he thought to himself. _You are the lead singer of a world famous rock band; the rock band of rock bands. The world practically lies at your feet, swooning over you. And yet the only person you want to notice you, doesn’t. Levi, you are one pathetic piece of shit._


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes; Mikasa is Eren’s real sister in this story, so no Ackerman but a Jeager =) Just to clear some things up. 
> 
> In this chapter I tried to shine some light on Eren’s superb life – chough  
> Thanks for the comments and kudos XD U guys rock. I hope to update a chapter a day, since I have about 26 up and waiting. Maybe I'll be updating more at the same time, it depends on how long it takes.  
> From 26 on, it will take longer since I have to write new chapters from that point onward (but then atleast this story is up to date).
> 
> Thoughts are in Italic
> 
> Enjoy

**The Mad Titans and the World of Tomorrow**

**Chapter 2**

* * *

 

 _ **A** _ girl with raven black hair up to her shoulders opened the apartment door of her younger brother. When inside she decided to keep her shoes on, not wanting to step in the mess that was the hallway. She walked towards the living room. "Eren!" she shouted while she took of her jacket, and threw it on the couch.

"Ah!" Eren shot up from the couch he was sleeping on, giving his sister the scare of her life as she instinctively punched the intruder in the nose. While her fist connected with his face she noticed it was only her little brother and quickly shouted sorry as a loud smack rang in the room.

"Ah, shit! Mikasa!" he managed to say while he covered his now bleeding nose.

"I told you I was sorry!" she shot back defensive, but couldn’t help but feeling sorry for him. "Let me get you a tissue."

She disappeared into the kitchen for a short while and returned with a white towel. "Only thing I could find that's even a bit clean." She handed him the towel.

"Thanks." Eren mumbled while pinching his nose to stop the bleeding.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to sleep on the couch." Now she sounded like their mother. "It’s not good for you."

"No but getting punched in the face is…"

"Ha-ha." Her sacrastic reply came and cocked her head.

He knew she cared for him, she just had an weird way of showing her affection. After all he was all she had left. Their mother had past away at an early age, leaving both of them at the age of six and in care of their father, Grisha. And even he disappeared two years ago, doing god knows what. All he left them was a simple note that he was going away for an undetermined period of time. He left them penniless and soon both of them had to drop out of high school. Mikasa was lucky, with her high grades and athletic skills their school was prepared to offer her a scholarship. Leaving only Eren to drop out in search for a job.

She was in her last year of high school and Eren knew she would be offered a scholarship for collage too. Even though things didn’t work out for him, he was happy for his sister. However it did mean he had to find multiple jobs to support them both, and with no diploma he was stuck doing hard work with low a low paycheck. For now he had four different jobs, one at a local bar, even though he was underage, seventeen, he had managed to persuade the manager, Hannes. Since he was an old friend of the family, he knew the lives Mikasa and Eren lead and decided to help them out. His second job was collecting garbage. Yes, Eren the garbage man, Mikasa had made jokes about that for a week straight when he first got the job, since he never cleaned their house. Ever. Third, he worked at several construction sites, doing simple tasks. And finally he worked in the kitchens of the Freedom Corps in the local community centre, a kitchen specially designed for the poor and the homeless. One could eat breakfast for just a few pennies. This last job however didn’t pay cash, but it did bring in food, since he could keep the leftovers for home.

"What time do you have to leave?" Mikasa asked her brother while she retied her red scarf.

Eren grabbed his phone and snapped it open. "Uh, in about two hours. You?"

"I’m done for today, but I’ve got some serious homework to make. These damned reports are killing me." Her eyes looked tired. "Do we still have left overs from the army?"

"Yeah, but not too much I’m afraid."

"Do we have enough money for groceries?"

He shook his head. "Not really, no. But tomorrow is a new day in the kitchens so I was hoping to grab some there. If you stop by before school I can prepare some lunch if you want." That made her smile. Even though her little brother worked nearly sixty hours per week, and seriously feared for his wellbeing he always put her first. He was strong. But she wondered if he was strong enough. As of lately he has been looking more and more tired.

"Hey, should I stay here for a while?" she offered. During weekdays she slept at the school dormitory since it was near the centre of Trost and it by foot it was just too far. She saw his troubled face.

"Don’t make sacrifices for me, Mikasa. I’m fine."

She nodded, but she didn’t believe him. There were dark circles under his eyes, clear signs of lack of sleep. "I could move back in. It would save us a considerable of money." She finally tried. She knew Eren would just brush off the idea, but she knew she just had to try.

"No. Mikasa. No!" he fixed his dirty sweater. "You moving back will affect your grades. I don’t want you to loose your scholarship." His emerald eyes were clear and fierce. He had made up his mind. She knew her brother to well, if she continued they would end up arguing the only time they could spend together.

She sighed in defeat. "Fine!" and rubbed her temple in annoyance.

"What time do you have to be in school tomorrow?" he tried to change the subject. Their eyes met.

"At nine, so I have enough time to swing by the kitchens and adore you in your lovely and graceful attire." She grinned teasing him, and playfully jabbed her finger in his side. He rolled his eyes and huffed, swatting her hand away. _Tsk Sisters._ He thought, but a faint smile graced his lips.

* * *

 

Levi’s phone had been ringing for some time now. It wasn’t that Levi couldn’t pick up his phone because he was away or busy. No, he didn’t pick up his phone because he simply didn’t want to. It was as simple as that. It was annoying as hell, sure, but on the screen flashed the name; Hanji, with whom a conversation with was sometimes downright exhausting. He sat on his couch debating with himself if it was worth it.

The screen went dark and the phone stopped vibrating. He watched it carefully as it lay next to him. Two missed calls was what it read. He pursed his lips. Any minute now. His eyes narrowed. And yes... there it was, his phone came to life as Hanji called again. He knew she would continue calling him until he picked up the damned machine or until she showed up on his doorstep. His eye twitched. Choice made. He grabbed for his phone and accepted the call.

"What?" He leaned back into his soft couch and rested his head on its back pillows.

"Grumpy ain’t cha!" sounded a cheery voice on the other side of the line followed by loud crashing sounds.

Levi held the phone from his ear for a bit. "What the fuck are you doing?"

"Nothing. What makes you think I’m doing anything?" she asked innocently.

"So, why are you calling me?" he answered her question with one of his own."

"Well. Pixies had this great idea…" she stared.

 _Oh god here it comes._ Whenever their manager had a great idea, it wasn’t as nearly as great as buying a microwave when you needed an oven. Shit made no sense. He moaned in frustration and his free hand made its way to cover his grey eyes, casting his world in darkness. "How bad is it?" he dared ask.

"He wanted us, for the badass band we are, to um, make like a short TV documentary. In which we not only, you know, show the foundation of the band, some things about ourselves, and what not. But also wanted to show that we care for our fans, or let’s say people in general."

"I’m sorry, I’m lost." He shook his head.

"Charity."

"…" He let that sink in.

"Please don’t murder people." That earned her a genuine laugh.

"Charity." He repeated.

"Jep."

"What does he have in store for us. Should I bring my shotgun?"

"Wow, was that a joke. Deeply impressed." She chuckled, and quickly continued. "The dude mentioned something about an organization called the Freedom Corps, Corp...no Corps.. whatever. Not sure what they do though. I know they stand up for the poor and homeless, but other than that it's a complete mystery."

"Right."

"Hey, it’s all for the sake of promoting our new song."

"New song?"

"Oh… Yeah, he also kinda mentioned that we needed a new song."

"When?"

"…" It was her turn to remain silent. And he knew that if something could shut up his friend, something was defiantly amiss.

"When." This time it was not a question.

"In two days the lyrics need to be done. In four, the general setup of the song including title, and by the end of the week we need to start recording."

He hated Pixies to the extend of setting his house on fire. They have never written a song with a deadline before, because hey, they were awesome and the world waited for them. It was never the other way around. _Perfect_.

"Why does he need the song within a week?" he already knew the answer, but needed to hear it anyway.

"Okay, so it's like this. He wants us to start recording tomorrow. Blah, blah, till the end of the week. Then the show should be finished and the theme song, well, you do the math smart ass."

"I need a drink." He exhaled heavily.

"I need more than a drink." She joked, and laughed. "Bar?"

"Yes, now!"

"See you in thirty?"

"Not a prob." The line went dead. He tossed his phone aside. "A new song huh. One week. A documentary. Same story. Well things could have been a lot worse." And with that he got up from his couch, grabbed his black coat, grey scarf, and an ugly black hand-knitted beanie made by Hanji. Despite having many others, this was the only one that didn’t itch, and equally important, was warm.

"Now for that drink." He smiled to himself as he opened the door and stepped outside.

* * *

 

"Ahhhh hahaha! You’re still wearing it! That’s so cute!" Hanji continued laughing, tears sprung in her eyes. She took of her glasses to wipe her eyes properly. She was of course referring to the old knitted beanie she had made for him years ago. "It looks like a dead animal."

"You made it. I can’t help it you knit like a idiot."

"I never said I could knit, now did I?"

He shrugged. "It doesn’t matter. Like yours is fashionable." He grabbed her oversized white beanie and pulled it down over her head.

"Asshole!" She spun her arms around to hit him, and when she landed one hit she freed her face from her beanie and greeted the fresh air with a sharp inhale.

They made their way to the bar for their much-needed drink, or in Hanji’s case, drinks. Levi had no problem adjusting his plans and joining Hanji in having a few.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in. It has been a while, hasn't it?" A blond man, with moustache stated when he saw the two enter his bar. "What brings you to the World’s End? Besides for the best drinks in Trost, that is."

"Hannes!" Hanji hugged their old friend. "Look at you, not a single grey hair. You look amazing, strikingly young I say." She pried her elbow in his side playfully.

The older man laughed at the excited girl. "I’m not that old."

"Levi, good to see you." A smile formed on his lips. "What's up?" It had been about four years since they had last been here. Being famous had some serious downsides.

Levi nodded at Hannes. "Well, I still hate winters."

His remark only made the man laugh harder. Hannes looked around his bar, which had only two occupied tables. "It’s still a bit early for drinking and besides it's a regular weekday. I suppose you guys don’t want the world to know you're here. How about you take the table at the far end. You know which one I mean. In the mean time, can I get you anything?"

A mischievous smile spread on Hanji’s face as she clapped her hands together as if she was about to utter a prayer. "You know what we, I mean, what I want. Levi doesn’t have a choice." She winked her trademark wink.

Hannes shook his head amusingly, knowing where this was going, and nodded. "Up in a sec."

Levi took of his coat and scarf, leaving the beanie in place. He seemed to believe that no one recognised him in a thing as hideous as this. Perhaps he was right. So far it had worked to conceal his well-known coupe.

He sat at the table in the far end of the café, far from the bar and windows. Their place had a safe distance from the toiletries. A line of tables stood in between that when crowded they didn’t have the irritations of multiple people passing by. Or rather, stumbling by, with the potential to fall, and blow their cover.

Hanji flopped down in a seat on the opposite side of the table. "Can you believe it?" she beamed, while she took rid herself of her coat. "This is the very table, the holy table, where we decided to start a band years ago. This is so awesome. I’m so excited!"

This was the place where the three of them started their band, where they got so drunk, where Levi got so drunk he agreed to a ridiculous name for the band. The picture of three drunkards flashed by in his memory. That picture was taken here, at this very table. It was a holy table indeed.

"How is Erwin taking the news of the documentary?" He asked Hanji, who was still very lost in her happy thoughts.

"Oh, don’t you worry about him. He takes everything so serious he even scolded me to not go drinking." That sounded like Erwin all right. Professional and serious.

"Is that why he’s not here?"

She nodded. "You shouldn’t go drinking. We have to work tomorrow. Don’t get drunk. Don’t do this. Don’t do that." She tried to mimic Erwin’s voice. "You know what he’s like. All business. Ah, but we do have to wake up early. It appears that Corps thing is early in the morning."

"I can wake up with a headache."

"Levi, your such a badass rock star." She mocked. "I can wake up with a headache." She now mimicked him and laughed when she saw him glare at her.

* * *

 

Hannes walked behind the bar, opening the door towards the small kitchen. He knew that what Hanji had asked for was hidden somewhere in the basement of the bar.

The kitchen was small and had four doors. One that led back to the bar, one that led to the basement, one outside, and the last one was the door of the large refrigerator. He walked passed the fridge towards the basement door, but stopped when he heard a knock in the door that led out to the alley. His employees were supposed to start at eight. He looked at his watch. The small clock showed ten minutes to eight.

"Hannes, you better be there. I’m freezing!" the voice of a young and irritated boy sounded from behind a closed door.

"Yeah. Yeah. Wait a sec." he made his way to the door, pulled out his key and unlocked the door. As soon as the door opened a kid stormed inside, cursing heavily as he came in.

"Good day Eren." Hannes laughed as he closed the door.

"Wait!" another voice called from the alley. A brown haired girl stepped inside and closed the door behind her.

"Eren, Hannes." She nodded.

"Good to see you Ymir." Hannes said. He locked the door again. It was a small bar; they could handle it with only three people. At least for today.

"Shit cold outside." Eren trembled as he sputtered those words.

Ymir laughed and hung her coat in a closet near the door. Eren followed her example.

"Well, Eren, if your so cold, I have a task for you." Hannes said.

"Great."

"Could you please bring me the scotch of ’76 please."

"What’s the occasion? That stuff’s expensive."

"Hm, … a celebration of sorts." Is what Hannes settled with after a moment of thinking.

"Okay, fair enough." Eren held his hand up for the keys, which Hannes passed to him. When he disappeared below ground he could hear Hannes ask Ymir if she wanted to prepare some simple snacks to which she of course obliged. Eren had switched on the lights of the basement before going down. The space underground was quite large and was used for storing alcohol and spare tables and chairs in case needed.

"Scotch, ’76." He whispered to himself as his eyes ran over the cabinets filled with all kinds of bottles. "Wine, nope. Beer, nope. Lot’s and lots of beer, damn. Let me see, scotch, scotch, sco-ah there you are. Now ’76." He pulled out an ancient looking bottle at the height of his knees. The bottle was quite dusty and when he whipped it clean with his sleeve he cursed. "Stupid, retarded idea Eren." A large grey speck of dust had collected on his what used to be green sleeve.

He climbed the stares with the scotch in one hand and to other extended in front of him, so he would not dirty the rest of his long sleeve shirt. It was the only clean shirt he had left, or had been. Now he had none. He closed the door after putting out the lights, and put the bottle on the counter where Ymir was making small club sandwiches. He tried to rub the dust from his sleeve.

Ymir laughed when she saw the filth on his shirt. "What the hell did you do?" she handed him a wet towel, which was way more helpful to whatever he was doing now.

"I… have no idea." He shook his head and took the towel handed to him. "Thanks." With his shirt sort of cleaned he grabbed a few glasses from he cabinet and put them on a trey, along with the bottle of ‘76.

"Here." Ymir handed him a plate of miniature sandwiches. He pushed some of the glasses aside to make room for the plate. Eren took the plate and put in on the trey as he moved closer to the folding door, leading to the bar. Just then Hannes popped through the door startling Eren, he managed to drop nothing to his own surprise.

"Let me." Hannes said as he took the trey from Eren and turned to Ymir. "Ymir, would you like to have bar ‘duty’ this evening?"

She raised her shoulders "Sure."

"Eren, could you please do me a favour and clean the fridge? I’m sure there is stuff that can be thrown out. Then take out the trash please."

Eren nodded. He knew he was too young to stand behind the bar. He was already happy that Hannes let him work here.

* * *

 

Hannes put the trey on Levi’s and Hanji’s table. "Enjoy, if you need anything else, say the word." And with that he returned to welcome some incoming guests and guided them to tables far from theirs.

"He’s a man made of gold I say." Hanji said as she watched him work. "Now, let’s get this over with haha~!" she grabbed the bottle of scotch and pored herself a glass, she then held up the bottle for Levi to see and offered him a glass with a broad smile.

"Erwin is going to kill us." He said when he took what was offered him. "He’d be a hero and rid us of our headaches."

"I can drink to that."

They rose their glasses and said some cheesy stuff before setting their lips to the old burning taste of the ’76.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just in case, in this fic people don’t use helmets or whatever when cycling, in the Netherlands we don’t use that crap =P

**The Mad Titans and the World of Tomorrow**

**Chapter 3**

* * *

 

 _ **I**_ t was still dark outside when Levi’s alarm clock terrorized his room, practically tearing him from his sleep. His eyes shot open only to be close the second after as he squeezed them shut. A sharp pain tore through his brain as the alarm clock continued to violate its master. Levi growled in anger as his fist shot from under the blanket and knocked the clock of the stand, where it continued to produce sounds from hell. "For the love of…" he didn’t finish the sentence as even his own voice rang in his ears.

What the fuck did Hanji have him drink yesterday? It had left him a complete wreckage. He felt a hundred years old when he dragged himself out of the warm confinements of his bed, cursing loudly, only fuelling his headache. The jokes he and Hanji had made yesterday suddenly didn’t seem so funny anymore. _Shit_.

He grabbed his alarm clock from the floor and pressed a button that returned his room to a peaceful place, that was until he switched on the lights. "Ah, come on." He hissed as his hands shot over his eyes protectively, covering them from the sudden brightness. "I hate today already." For the morning person he was, getting up today was horrible. He may have had a drink too much. Maybe two. Okay maybe a bottle or two. _Shit. And shit again!_

He rubbed his temple as he reached for his phone and dialled Hanji’s number to check if she was alive. The phone rang, once, twice, and a whole lot more until she finally picked up. There was no sound on the other side of the line.

"Hanji?" Levi tried. Still nothing. After a few second he could swear he heard a soft snore. She had fallen asleep right after picking up her phone, or she was asleep while doing so "How does she even do that?"

"Hey! Hanji! Wake the fuck up!" he screamed while one hand clutched his head. This was not a good idea, his head felt like it was being split open. But he owed her. "Hanji!"

"Uuurggg…" finally he had managed to wake her up. "H-hello?" She sounded butchered.

"Wake up call."

"Thanks dude."

"Don’t fall asleep again."

She laughed weakly. Well that sounded promising.

Short after he ended the call, hoping that she remained awake, which he doubted. He knew her longer than today.

* * *

 

Erwin sat on a bench in front of the entrance of the Freedom Corps, which was a reformed old engine house. It looked kind of abandoned save for Erwin and some people of the film crew, and of course other staff members of both the band and the Corps.

Petra walked over to Erwin and sat down next to him. She looked at her watch.

"Do you think they well make it on time?" she started carefully.

Erwin looked at her. "I only hope they do. I warned Hanji. Told her it was a stupid idea. I had hoped that Levi would consort with her, but to think he’d actually join her. I hadn’t seen that coming."

"They’d better be on time." Pixies butted into their conversation. "Or we are just going to start without them."

Another person approached them. "Good morning everyone. I know it is very early, but I want to thank the fact that you are here to help us out today. We are short on volunteers as it is. My name is Ilse Langnar and I am the CEO of the Freedom Corps." She made a short bow at the group.

Before anyone could react to her welcome, her attention was caught by someone that was cycling towards them. "Morning Eren." Ilse called. "Lovely of you to be here."

"My pleasure, miss Langnar." he sounded a little out of breath.

"How do you feel? Not too tired I hope." She smiled. She knew he had multiple jobs, and last night he had a shift at the World’s End. He came straight after his previous job. As a hard working person herself, she deeply respected Eren’s passion.

"I’m fine." He said as he got of his bike. It shrieked loudly as he pushed it towards the building. "Sorry." He apologised to everyone around. "It’s a bit old." He locked it and shoved the key in his pocket.

"Eren?" Ilse started again. "Why don’t you join Mike in the kitchens. We open in two hours." She glanced at her watch again. It was four thirty. The kitchens opened from six thirty till nine.

He nodded and added a "Sure, no problem." Before he opened the door and walked inside.

* * *

 

Eren made his way to the dressing rooms, to leave his coat, scarf, and bag in a locker and to get his black apron made of rubber. Yes is was a horrible thing to wear, since it made some pretty embarrassing sounds now and then, but he preferred that over food stains on his clothes.

He yawned once or twice when he reached his destination, and dressed in the appropriate attire. He then made his way to the Corps’ kitchens where he guessed he would start peeling loads of potatoes on his own. Well, at least it was better than doing nothing. When he entered the first kitchen, he received a warm welcome of his colleagues already present.

"Morning, Eren! Welcome to the 'tater' kitchen" Yelled an excited Mike for the morning person he was, and waved at the boy. A large grin was present on his face while he was caring bags of vegetables around the kitchen to their proper destination.

"Good morning dear." A woman called Anca said with a warm smile, as she nodded her head his way since her hands were occupied with a knife in one and an onion in the other. Her eyes were slightly red and teary because of all the onions she had cut. She then turned to Mike. "Mike, dear, I’d like a new box of onions, please."

"Comin’ right up." She got as a reply and he disappeared in the storage room.

Eren walked passed Anca to the back of the kitchen to fetch a peeler and some garbage bags for all the potato skins. He grabbed a trashcan, put in the bag and rolled it to a nearby table. When he wanted to walk into to the storage room a person he least expected to be here, submerged. With an evil sneer on his face and eyes that glared, he gave Eren the warmest welcome one could wish for.

"Heya dimwit, move out of my way." He pushed roughly passed Eren, slamming him hard in the shoulder.

"Fuck you, Jean." The words left his lips before he knew.

"What did you say?" the rude boy called Jean said with a dangerous edge to his voice. He ran a hand through his light brown hair, and paused at his darker coloured undercut. He slowly moved closer to Eren as a means to intimidate the smaller boy. Emerald eyes grew narrower and filled with hatred. He squared his shoulders and straightened his back in hope to decrease the difference in height. Then he said with a deep voice; "You can go and fuck yourself, horseface." He passed Jean without breaking eye contact, only adverting his eyes when he walked away, back to the table he had come from. Before Jean could avenge himself Mike erupted from the storage.

"You guys have great spirit. So much energy. Here!" he flung Jean a bag of potatoes, which Jean just barely managed to catch. "Now you two." He glanced over at Eren. "Go cut me those, and no whining." He added when he saw their faces grimace.

Eren clicked his tongue. Great he was stuck with the biggest asshole in the world.

* * *

 

"Hurry up, you slowpoke." Levi snarled at Hanji who was moaning with every step she took.

"I hate myself! Why didn’t I listen to Erwin? Why didn’t you try to stop me from drinking so much?" she grabbed her head with two hands and caressed it like it was a puppy.

"Cus, I was piss drunk."

They arrived at the Freedom Corps by cab, which seemed the safest and fastest idea for the two. Levi had ordered it and decided to pick up Hanji, whom had of course fallen asleep again.

When they arrived inside Petra hurried over. "You two look horrible. What happened?" Her hand covered he mouth as worry shone in her auburn eyes.

"Alcohol, happened." Levi snapped "…and this creature." He pointed at Hanji who sheepishly grinned.

"You guys never learn." Erwin butted in. He was already dressed for the occasion.

"Okay, well, we are going to work something out, which will make you guys look… uh, fantastic." Petra nodded towards her staff. "Eld, grab me some extra concealer please. Lots."

"We look that bad he?" Hanji’s voice cracked as she tried to keep her eyes fro closing.

Petra nodded. "Gunther, go fetch some coffee."

"Coffee." Levi repeated, suddenly very interested in the conversation. He could sure use a couple of those right now.

It took about twenty minutes when both Levi and Hanji were ready to roll. They introduced themselves to the camera crew, which Levi already decided to hate. Short after there was a short explanation of what they should expect of the day, what they were supposed to do and how long it would take. Each band member got a personal cameraman, to Levi’s greatest annoyance, and a soundman. With each their own group of stalkers the three were sent to meet a person named Mike. Isle escorted them to their destination.

When they got to the nearest kitchen Mike was already waiting for them just outside. They introduced themselves yet again. The three would work together in one of the multiple kitchens available. Since the so-called potato kitchen was full, he said they could definatly be of help in the soup kitchen and walked them over to another part of the building.

"How many kitchens do you have?" Erwin asked Mike out of curiosity.

"About seven, but we only use four on a regular basis. Today we use six, since it’s cold outside and we serve warm food during the winters. Each kitchen has its own dish so to speak." The three nodded in unison. "Are you guys ready?" Mike said while he opened the door to the soup kitchen.

Levi’s shrugged. This was going to be a long day.

* * *

 

Eren hurried to the fridge, which was near the soup kitchen, to store the food he’d just finished mashing. "Ah, I should have used a trolley." He muttered, his arms started to feel the strain of the weight he was caring.

Big bowls of mashed potatoes were lined up from top to bottom on a big metal cabinet, which stood against a wall. It was a horrible place to argue as one mistake could cause a great mess. The bowls could come crashing down, spilling all the food on the stone cold floor. Wasted. And of course of all places they could encounter each other, Eren and Jean met here, the place to be - a utopia of future accidents just waiting to happen.

Eren was caring a heavy bowl of mashed potatoes and was looking for some space to put them. But almost all of the shelves seemed full, when he turned to look behind him he walked into Jean who had the same idea.

"Fuck." Eren cursed, he felt his fingers slip and his grip on the bowl loosened. He attempted to catch it as it slipped from his grasp, but in doing so he shoved Jean causing to drop his bowl, cursed Eren for his stupidity, and pushed him against the cabinet, which started to wobble dangerously. "Watch it you freak."

"Shut your mouth Kirstein." And that’s where things got ugly.

* * *

 

Hanji knew she heard some commotion coming from the next room. She turned to the door, no one seemed to come through; the argument seemed to stay in one place. The commotion stopped. She waited a bit before she return to stir the soup, only to stop when she heard it again.

Levi noticed her odd behaviour. "What?" he asked her more out of annoyance than actual interest.

"I though I heard something?"

"Who cares." He rolled his eyes and turned his attention to preparing food again. He was already on edge because the film crew was following his every step. He hated the fact that with whatever he did a camera was almost permanently glued to his face. He despised unwanted attention. He sighed.

"I’m going to take a look." She said as she turned down the fire, so the soup wouldn’t overcook in her absence.

"Levi." Pixie’s voice sounded from behind the cameras. _Here it comes._ "Follow her." he ordered.

 _All for the sake of reality TV, shit documentary. Why did I agree to this? Oh, right, I didn’t have a choice._ He did as he was told and strode after her, followed by a herd of people.

As soon as he passed the door, he knew what commotion Hanji was talking about. He heard strings out foul language erupt from within a confined space. He caught up with Hanji who stood near an open door and carefully peaked inside the refrigerator. Her eyes were wide and her lips were slightly parted, she seemed surprised and amused at the same time and stood frozen as if nailed to the ground. What the hell was she seeing?

"Watch what you doing, Jean. One wrong move and you fuck everything up." Rang a voice from within the fridge.

"Shut up, don’t tell me what to do!" they heard a loud crash and a grunt of pain, followed by several objects clashing down and a sickening slimy splash, as if goo splattered everywhere.

"Look what you’ve made me do!" the one called Jean yelled. "Fuck this I’m out of here." A boy no older than 18 stormed out, nearly walking Hanji of her feet if Levi hadn’t pulled her out of harms way.

"Watch where you’re going, asshole." Levi called after him, but the boy didn’t respond as he walked in a fast pace entering another room, slamming the door shut with a load bang.

Their attention returned to the fridge when the heard groans come from within. Hanji nearly barged through the entrance and threw herself down on her knees right next to a boy covered in what seemed to be mashed potatoes. Wait, he was covered in mashed potatoes. Levi’s face grimaced at the mess, being the clean freak he is. _Disgusting_. He didn’t feel sorry for the kid; he probably had it coming.

He was covered from head to toe, with layers thick of potato. It clung to his face like a mask, completely covering his features. Right now he looked like an ogre escaped from a fairy tale, and more over, completely unrecognisable. _Perfect._ Just when the boy made any attempts to smear some of the whipped substance from his face, a smirk appeared on Hanji’s face. _Oh joy._ Hanji practically gleamed when an idea snuck into her brilliant mind. Evil, yes. But brilliant nonetheless. She laughed to herself. Oh how she loved being evil, it was such a sweet sensation.

"No, no, no!" She said quickly grabbing the boy’s writs. "Don’t do that. You’ll only make it worse. It would be bad it that shit got in your eyes." That was a lie, but the kid believed her as he slowly nodded. She knew who this kid was. She knew by the way Levi had first described him. She knew because she had seen him from Levi’s apartment window. This was the boy from the song. She knew. She was so excited she could burst. She looked behind her and saw Levi stand in the entrance of the fridge with a face of sheer annoyance. She tried to hide her smile as best as she could. _Come on, Hanji. Pokerface! You can do this. Ha ha!_

"Levi. Could you help me get him to his feet? It seems some of those bowls hit him on the head." She points at the display, a floor covered in wasted food and metal bowls.

His brow shot up in annoyance. Was she serious? "I’ve got to touch that." His hand trembled when he pointed at the boy.

"Well he can’t see shit." She stated the obvious blantly.

The kid wobbled to his feet, Hanji grabbed his hand to support him.

"Thanks." He whispered.

She hummed in response as she guided him over to Levi. "Here you go." she said as she grabbed Levi’s arm with her free hand as passed over the helpless boy.

Before Levi could say no, she said. "Go clean him! I’ll take care of this mess with Erwin. There’s no way in hell I’m gonna do this on my own." And strode right passed him, clasping her hands around her mouth, to create a megaphone of her own, and yelled. "Erwin"’ and then she was gone. _Bitch._ Levi couldn’t leave the boy alone, but didn’t really know what to do with him either. There were some people of the camera crew, stalking around, keeping a close eye on what he was about to do. _Great I can’t dump him somewhere. Fuck my life_.

"Hey brat." He finally said when the silence became unbearable. "Where are the showers or… whatever? You people do have showers here, do you?"

"Yeah." Came a timid voice from under the substance. "…At the dressing rooms."

"Where exactly. Be more precise, idiot."

"Near the entrance."

Levi looked at some of the camera crew for help. "Any directions?" he added, for both the boy and the crew.

"I think I know the way." A familiar voice sounded. Petra had suddenly appeared and walked over to the crowd. "Put those camera’s down." She said with a stern voice. She sounded like a teacher in kindergarten. "Can’t you see he-" she stopped for a brief moment, thought for a while and continued as she put her hands in her side. "How would you feel if you were on national television looking like that!" she scolded them. "It’s terrible. You are all terrible. You should be ashamed of yourselves." She turned her attention to the victim. "Are you alright?"

The boy nodded and she smiled "Good. Come on. I’ll bring you two to the dressing rooms, and then I’ll go grab some fresh clothing for you, okay?"

They found the rooms in one go, thanks to Petra and some extra directions from the blinded kid.

"Okay." Petra said. "I’ll be right back, you go in and clean him as best as you can."

"Sure." Levi tightened the grip on the boy’s wrist and yanked him inside, earning a surprised gasp from the brat. He walked over to the sink and told the boy to wait for him to return with a chair and some towels. The kid did as he was told, and waited. When Levi returned he could see the boy shiver slightly. He was cold. Of course he was covered in that shit in this freezing weather. He put down a simple folding chair behind him, and helped him to sit down. He grabbed a towel and soaked it properly, then he wiped of the first layer of potato.

Specks of chestnut hair became visible, and part of his cheek. He continued but stopped when the boy mumbled something about it being cold and half freezing to death. Levi untied the knots of the boy’s aprons and grabbed the hem of the boy’s shirt and lifted it over his head without a warning, and quickly grabbed a large towel from the pile he had brought, and put it around him. Then he kneeled in front of him and continued cleaning his face.

The more junk he scrapped off the slower became his actions. He had the feeling he knew this kid. An uneasy feeling gathered in the pit of his stomach. Piercing green eyes carefully fluttered open, still hindered by some remnants of potatoe. He knew those eyes. That hair. That face. That’s when realization struck him. _Fuck! Hanji, you filthy, filthy devil_. His hands started to tremble, his eyes grew wide, and colour drained from his face. Even his heart started to beat faster and his breathing became uneasy.

"Um…" the boy started carefully. "Sir, are you alright?"

"What...?" he shook his head in disbelieve. He shot out of his daze "Yeah, yeah, of course." His voice sounded almost distant and came out a lot softer that whe had anticipated. The boy didn’t seem convinced but decided to go with it anyway. His eyes seemed to burn holes in Levi. _Stop staring you brat!_

"Is it okay if I took a quick shower?" Levi cleared his throat at that question as it caught him completely off guard, nearly sucking all air from his lungs and tried hiding a cough, by running a hand over his face. He got to his feet and tossed the dirty towel in the sink. What the hell was going on? What was he supposed to say? Sure, go ahead. Obviously he couldn’t refuse the kid a shower. _Fuck!_ He breathed in slowly, trying to calm his nerves. _For crying out loud, Levi, don’t be such a fucking pussy._ "Yeah sure." He tried to sound as monotone as possible, and cocked his brow to add a more nonchalant look.

"Come on." Levi held out his hand to help him up. "I think you need a proper bath instead of a shower. No shower is going to get this shit off." _Great why did you have to say that?_

"Okay. I guess you’re right." The boy said, and ran a hand though his mashed potato filled hair, and swatted a handful of that junk to the ground. He took the man’s hand.

"You got a name brat?"

"Eren."

"Well, Eren, can you show me the way to the baths. It seems I need to prepare one for you."


	4. Chapter 4

**The Mad Titans and the World of Tomorrow**

**Chapter 4**

* * *

 

 _ **E**_ ren felt like a toddler again, been taken care of by others. Why was he always the little kid that needed special care, which always needed more attention than others? He was thankful someone wanted to help him, but it didn’t subdue his embarrassment. Why did these stupid accidents always happen to him? He hid his burning face in his hands and sunk to his knees.

He was waiting for this random guy to prepare him a bath. And not just any guy, this guy was absolutely beautiful - stunning even. The moment his eyes were potato free he thought he got a heart attack. He swore he knew the man, he just didn’t know where he had seen him before. He tried to pinpoint his thoughts but it only led to more embarrassing thoughts. _Damnit!_

Eren saw the man’s flawless face before him again, his pale porcelain skin, his strong defined jawline, and those eyes. Those silver eyes, that locked with his. If he hadn’t spoken up, Eren would have gotten lost in them. As if on cue the man appeared before him, leaning against the doorway.

"Are you gonna sit there forever, feeling sorry for yourself?" He said with a stoic expression, he crossed his arms over his chest as he waited for Eren to answer him. He acted so high and mighty. _Prick_. Eren quickly got to his feet and adverted his eyes.

The man was dressed so stylish it made him feel like a total loser. While he stood there shivering in his towel, goddamn - he was shirtless! It had almost slipped his mind- and his dirty jeans, he simply felt severely underdressed. That was just a mild statement.

The man before him wore a black sweater, which showed of his clear lean and muscular torso. A silver zipper led from the hem to a high collar, hiding most of his slender neck, and almost touched the tip of his chin. Grey skinnies covered his legs, even though the man was slightly smaller than him, he had long strong legs, which ended in black army boots. He looked like someone out of a movie. Some rich dude people admired from afar, proper red carpet material.

Eren didn’t know just how true his thoughts were since he never bothered with celebrities much and had never even read those stupid celeb magazines Mikasa bought from time to time. He only thought it was a waste of money, but his sister deserved some luxury so he didn’t care too much. He shook that thought from his mind, why was he thinking about that right now, when this guy was standing in front of him everything else seemed so irrelevant.

"I’m not gonna stand here till the end of days, hurry up." His silver eyes nearly glared at him.

Eren cursed himself for being such a dweeb. For some weird reason he didn’t want to be hated by this mysterious man. "Sorry." He half buried his face in the towel as he wrapped it closer round him.

He heard the older man sign before he said."Come on, let’s get you cleaned up." Levi decided to give the boy some privacy to get undressed. "Call me you're you're in." Every muscle in his body was tense, and he was feeling stressed out. God he needed a cigarette, and entire package at the very least. He wanted to drink to the point of oblivion, just like the previous night. He wanted to drown out his perverted thoughts, but failed when he was constantly remained by what happened in the next room. _Calm down._ He closed his eyes, trying to shut out all emotion.

"Um hey. You can come in now." A small voice called from the other side of the door.

The bath was located in a small room, and the bathtub had the shape of a rectangle. On all sides there was a broad edge, where items could be stalled for bathing. On the right there were several cabinets where such items were provided. Furthermore the room housed a wooden basket near the door and an other near the cabinet. Levi stepped inside.

"I have a name you know."

The boy stared at him with innocent eyes. "Doesn’t everyone?" he asked bluntly making Levi smirk. _This brat_.

"Yeah, well thanks for asking mine, you clearly have no manners." He said as he came closer to Eren, he kicked of his boots and rolled up his jeans to his ankles. Then he rolled up his sleeves. "Name’s Levi, brat. Nice to meet you." although he didn’t held out his hand for a proper introduction, he moved closer to one of the cabinets and pulled out some bottles of shampoo, a sponge, and a brush to scrub off the filth. He was sure he needed all of it.

Eren thanked who ever was up in heaven that Levi had prepared his bath with way too much bubbles, they even pored over the sides, leaving only his head exposed.

"What are you going to do?" he asked as Levi moved closer with way too many bottles of... whatever and sat down on the edge.

"Move over." He said dryly and he pushed Eren to the middle of the tub. The boy's back was turned towards him. He settled on the edge behind the boy and pressed his back against the wall for support. One of his legs dangled of the edge, and the other he bend and raised to his chest. In his hand he held a sponge ready for scrubbing.

"Come." He said as he grabbed Eren by the shoulder and dragged him closer.

Before Eren could protest he felt the sponge rub over his head, taking him by surprise and causing him to shortly subdue under the water by the sudden pressure.

"Ah, be more careful. Are you trying to kill me?"

"Shut up."

Eren felt something cold being pored over his hair, and drip down his face. "What is that?" the cold liquid substance slid down his neck and sent shivers down his spine.

"Shampoo. Loads of shampoo." Levi flung the now empty bottle aside, where it clattered somewhere on the flour.

"What, you used up an entire bottle?"

Levi hummed a "hmmm" and started to spread the shampoo evenly, which wasn’t hard because it was everywhere, and started to scrub vigorously. He felt the stickiness of the potatoes between his slender fingers, and in time it slowly vanish.

Eren’s head disappeared in a sea of bubbles, and coughed the shampoo from his mouth. He rubbed the intruding cream from his face, but it made little difference when a next avalanche of bubbles slumped right over his face.

"Ah, fuck!" the boy cursed while spluttering bubbles from his mouth.

Levi chuckled, the kid seemed helpless, and it was too adorable to witness. He shifted a little, in order to sit right behind the boy, one leg on either side of him, but his hands slipped from all the shampoo and he almost, almost fell straight in.

"Shit!" he cursed under a heavy breath as his entire body tensed up. That was too close. He slowly steadied himself.

Eren turned his head with a confused look on his face, clearly startled by the commotion.

"Don’t you dare say a word." Levi’s eyes were sharp and angry.

Eren wondered to himself if this man was actually quite clumsy and let out a laugh. "Did you almost-"

"I said shut it." Levi's voice sounded deep and strict. Somehow it all added up to the man’s appealing nature. It made him look dangerous, challenging even.

Eren felt a lump build in his throat. _Okay, turn around now._ He thought to himself. And so he did. Eren tried to hide his burning ears as best as he could. _Ah, way does this happen to me? Why now of all times?_

Eren noticed Levi’s leg creep next to him, as it appeared next to his shoulder and heard Levi mumble."I’m getting to old for this shit." Followed by a louder "Hold your breath."

"Huh, wha-" then he felt strong hands pushing him under water, and pulling him up again short after. Eren spluttered as he submerged, spilling the water that had been trespassing his lungs. "Y-you jerk!"

"I warned you."

"Barely."

"What is this stuff."’ Levi said annoyed as he pulled pieces of potato from dark wet strands of hair. He grabbed another bottle of shampoo, squirted some in his hands and rubbed it in Eren’s hair again.

"Levi?" Petra’s voice called from the dressing rooms. "Where should I put the clothes?"

"Get your ass over here." came Levi's rather harsh reply.

Footsteps closed in on the bathroom, and it didn't take long before an auburn haired woman appeared.

"Oh, my!" Her hands shot in front of her eyes as her cheeks burned a bright shade of red.

Levi shook his head while he stared at Petra - he knew weird stuff was spinning out of control in that head of hers; her guilty pleasure. Slowly she dropped her hands so they were only covering her mouth. Her eyes were wide reflected a hint of amusement.

"I-I’ll, um, Just p-put these clothes right over here." She said and placed a new pair of clothes in a basket near the entrance rather stifly. "B-bye." She was gone the second after and Eren could swear he heard her giggle.

"What’s her problem?" Eren wondered out loud.

Levi clicked his tongue. Was the kid really this dull? He leaned to his right, and rested his hand on the edge to support himself.

Eren sensed the movement behind him and turned to meet Levi, only to find himself face to face with the man, their noses a mere inch apart. His eyes grew wider, his cheeks redder, and his breath hitched unnaturally. Levi’s grey eyes stared straight into his, and then wondered down towards his lips. His hand carefully caresses Eren’s cheek, making him shudder under the feathery touch. Levi’s fingers ghosted over wet sensitive skin. Eren almost whimpered in mere desperation by the unknown sensation that raced through his body and soul. What was this man doing to him?

"Don’t you think what were doing looks a bit…" silver eyes returned to emerald ones, filled with what Eren hoped was desire, desire for him "…intimate?" he finished in a whisper.

Eren could feel warm breath against his lips. As he shivered goose bumps manifested on his skin. Suddenly he felt too warm for comfort and his chest felt very restricting.

Levi retreated with a wicked grin on his face, and that’s when Eren knew he was being teased. Before he knew it, his impulsive behaviour got the better of him, as his hand shot up from the tub and tossed water all over Levi. "J-jerk!"

Levi’s eyes slowly opened as he breathed out painfully slow, his face turning the other way, trying to maintain his temper. A hand ran along his face to rid it of most of the water. This boy pushed him till the edge, and beyond the point of no return. "You are so dead." He mouthed, no sound ever passing his lips.

All Eren could do after, was pray he would live to see the next day. An awkward silence loomed over two drenched figures, one sitting on the edge of the bathtub, the other half drowned in it. Levi exhaled a heavy breath and stood up slowly. "You are so dead..." he said with a silky voice.

* * *

 

Levi passed Eren a towel, exhausted over what had just happened. He never thought in a million years he could get so caught up in a person. He had just practically jumped in a bathing tub, viciously scrubbing the kid from head to toe, almost in a violating way, while wearing his full attire. Now the only dry thing he owned were his pair of boots. _Splendid_. He grabbed the clean clothes from the basket and passed them to the boy who was finally potato free.

"Here. I’m in need in some of my own, I’ll look for Petra while you get dressed, understood?"

Eren nodded as the man who had ensnared him in one of his evil spells took a leave, but only after said man pulled his soaking wet sweater over his head. His back was nothing but muscle over muscle, there wasn’t a single flaw. A tattoo ran from his left shoulder blade to his spine, it was a trail of feathers, of which some were torn to pieces and covered in blood. He tossed his sweater over his shoulder in a nonchalant way, as if saying, _I’m half naked, get over it_ , and disappeared from his sight. It was then when he noticed he was nearly suffocating, apparently Eren had stopped breathing at the display before him, and desperately snuck for air. His greedy lungs filled with oxygen and he blinked his eyes feverishly. He opened his mouth only to close it again. His mind spun in circles, everything was a mess, and when he tried to think of anything else all thoughts led back to the same person over, and over again. He had never felt this way before and he was afraid it would be the end of him.

"Jerk…" he sounded pathetic when he buried his face in his hands one last time.

* * *

 

Hanji sat in a separate room chatting with Petra, giggles exploded on a regular basis.

"Ah, I wish I could have seen his face when he discovered who the kid was. Hmmm." She sounded content at her work, and pushed her glasses higher up her nose like a mad doctor did in bad movies.

"It was the sweetest thing I had ever seen." Petra said as she leaned over the table closer to Hanji, and pounded her fist on the table top. The two of them always talked about Levi’s secret crush. Hanji because she liked how her Levi hated every moment of it and Petra because she was obsessed with boys love and was clearly taken aback by her first ‘real life’ encounter, as she had described it.

Hanji snickered at her friend and colleague. Wanting to say something offending but Petra shushed her right away waving her hands, and pointed behind her.

Levi walked over to them, his torso bare, and he seemed to have had a shower, in his clothes that is.

Hanji raised both her brows, and her glasses slid slightly down her nose. Then both her hands shot up to her face with two thumbs sticking up. A creepy smile spread on her face.

"…aaaaand?" she nearly sang.

"I need new clothes." He ignored the four-eyed freak and directed all his attention to Petra, who was too dazed to register anything.

"Um, s-sorry what… new clothes. Okay. I can do… that…"

"...Aaaaand?" Hanji tried again, but this time more desperate.

He adverted his eyes from both of them, and his stance became passive.

"Hanji." he started.

"Levi." she simply said.

"Have I ever told you how much I hated you?"

She grinned from ear to ear "Yes, dear. Every single day."

That earned her an earnest smile. She saw his eyes soften; there was something there, something... Her eyes grew wide and she inhaled deeply. She finally had gotten through to him. After all those conversations they had. After all those songs he had written. Levi finally admitted he was in love with this kid.

"Oh my god." She simply had no other words. "Levi, I- I don’t know what to say…"

He shrugged. "And I don’t know what to do…"

she ran over to him and pulled him in for a hug and whispered. "You are so adorable right now."

Petra nodded in agreement.

‘Fuck you.’ And he hugged Hanji back.


End file.
